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Former Player Tim Watson Appeals to Adrian Peterson’s Reason In Open Letter

By Dan Zinski

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Tim Watson was a 1993 sixth round draft pick out of Howard who spent six years playing safety in the NFL, most notably with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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In his post-football life Watson has become a fitness trainer and motivational speaker, and he runs a blog called Hitman’s Hard Hits where he shares his “frank insights” on football.

Yesterday, Watson shared his frank insights on the Adrian Peterson situation and in so-doing said some things a lot of fans have been thinking and saying during this whole mess.

In his open letter to Peterson, Watson attempts the likely futile task of laying out the reality of the situation to a player who in Watson’s own estimation has not been speaking or behaving in a very realistic fashion of late.

The letter is kind of lengthy so I won’t reprint the whole thing here. I’ll just say the whole missive may represent the most well-thought-out take on the Peterson situation I have yet read.

The letter has particular resonance because it comes from a player who made some money in the NFL but did not by any stretch become as wealthy as Adrian Peterson. Mainly, Watson seems very bothered if not downright insulted by Peterson’s apparent belief that he is entitled to have glorious riches placed in his hands by virtue of his name and past reputation.

This paragraph stuck out as being particularly effective in putting Peterson’s situation in the proper perspective:

"As players, when it comes to the business of the game, most of us proclaim to never “count other players’ money!” In other words, we all recognize the volatility of an NFL career, so the most you can get, as soon as you can get it, the better. But, I think most are aware that the level of compensation you’ve been able to receive (on and off the field) has afforded you, your family, and probably some descendants to come, a rather financially secure lifestyle. I only reference that to say your “money in the bank” may also be clouding your judgement regarding the business elements of this situation. Again, we don’t know exactly what occurred that’s causing you and your wife angst about continuing with the Vikings. However, what I and many others, do know is that turbulent emotions are the biggest deceivers of logic. Based upon the known facts of this case, it really doesn’t appear that you and your wife are allowing logic to drive your decisions. Simply put, with the timing of your “reckless child injury” charges coming on the tail-end of the Ray Rice “domestic violence” case, what were your expectations of the NFL and/or the Minnesota Vikings? Of course the NFL had to take some sort of action, and the Vikings had to comply. Lest you forget that the NFL is an $11+ Billion per year business that thrives on sponsorship, marketing deals, and sales to the general public. So it is without a doubt that the sentiment of the general public towards your case must be considered as it relates to the action taken by the league. Yet and still, you were able to make a considerable salary for the 2014 season. I’d have you imagine the same scenario happening with a teacher (making $40K per year), or a local news anchor (making $80K per year). Chances are that both of these two individuals would have lost their jobs under the public pressure from such a case as yours. However, their ability to care for their families financially would have likely resulted in much graver results than your situation."

I think we all agree at this point that Peterson needs to step back from the situation and try to look at it with a little more objectivity, but I don’t see that happening as long as he continues listening to the same people he’s been listening to (including his agent Ben Dogra).

I’d like to think that Peterson will read Watson’s letter and consider Watson’s words but quite frankly I don’t think Peterson is capable of really digesting what Watson and others are trying to say. He is so far up his own butt right now it’s not funny.

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